But I Can't Do It Alone
by the'nvisiblegirl
Summary: "I... I'm pregnant," Regina whispered eventually, and at first Emma thought she was just making stuff up in her head now. But she wasn't, she realized after a beat, and couldn't help her jaw automatically almost hitting the floor. She did not exactly know what she had expected when she had found Regina at her doorstep, but certainly not this.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. (Too bad.)

Since I've heard a few rumors about Regina being pregnant with Robin's baby now (yuck), and - if it's actually true - it'll never turn out how I would want it to, I thought I should just tell my own tale about it.  
>This is gonna be a multi-chapter fic (about like 15-ish chapters, probably). Hope you'll enjoy it! Reviews are always welcome!<p>

* * *

><p>When Emma heard the knock on her front door, the first thing she did was let out an annoyed groan. After all, it was around 10.30 PM on a Monday night, and even though she was the sheriff, which – in a small town like Storybrooke – meant that she was on-call basically 247, emergencies mostly reached her through her phone, though, instead of coming straight to her home.

She put the beer she had been absentmindedly taking a sip from every now and then on the coffee table next to the couch, before she stood up, and went to open the door – ready to give the idiot disturbing her first quiet evening in what felt like 20 years a piece of her mind.

The person who actually stood in front of her once she had opened the door, however, made all of the insults she had already prepared in her mind instantly disappear into thin air.

"Regina? What's wrong?" Every alarm bell in the blonde's head was ringing while she took in the appearance of the woman in front of her.

She looked completely beside herself with something Emma couldn't exactly pinpoint; her normally impeccable hair was tousled, she was wearing yoga pants – _yoga pants_ – and Emma was positive she could even see dried tear tracks on the brunette's paler than usual cheeks.

Her heart uncomfortably clenched together in her chest. While they were still on somewhat uncertain terms every now and then, Emma liked to think they had established a mutual understanding she would even call a friendship. They just kind of _got_ each other in a way that no one else had before. It was nice. Easy. Comfortable.

And most importantly, they had each other's backs; so before Regina could even react, Emma had taken her by the hands, and all but dragged her towards the couch in the middle of the room, where the former mayor unceremoniously collapsed, letting her head fall in her hands. For a moment, Emma just stared at the normally so put-together woman now slumped on her couch. She wondered if something had happened to Henry, and instantly a wave of panic shot through her. She then wondered if Regina was sick; her panic grew tenfold.

Eventually, Emma sat down on the couch as well, however, way on the other end to give Regina the space she knew the other woman needed; at least for the moment. For what seemed like an eternity, they just sat there, nobody saying a word, because if Emma knew anything about Regina, it was that one should not push the former mayor; she had to come around herself.

"I... I'm pregnant," Regina whispered eventually, and at first Emma thought she was just making stuff up in her head now. But she wasn't, she realized after a beat, and couldn't help her jaw automatically almost hitting the floor. She did not exactly know _what_ she had expected when she had found Regina at her doorstep, but certainly not _this_. Regina and Robin hadn't even been a thing for a month, at least as far as Emma knew.

She just couldn't believe that Regina _I'm the biggest control freak ever_ Mills had let herself get knocked up by some random – and more importantly _married_ – dude who, to top it all off, smelled like fucking forest. Emma wanted to punch a goddamn puppy. For some reason she had hated that guy from the moment they had first met. Because he was a moron, a cheater, and constantly looked like he had to take a big dump. Not at all because she was kinda jealous, if she actually thought about it.

"I'm sorry I'm even bothering you with this, but... I didn't really know who else to turn to." If it was possible, her shoulders sagged even more. She looked so small, it choked Emma with sorrow. Even when Regina had had to stop the trigger to save the town, when they had been sick with worry about Henry in Neverland, when they had said goodbye at the town line, Regina had never looked this broken. It made Emma want to reach out to the brunette, to take her hand, let her cry on her shoulder. But she didn't move. Instead, she just looked at Regina, as if trying to memorize every little detail about the other woman.

"It's fine. I... just didn't see that one coming," she mumbled quietly after a while, desperate to get her act back together, to not scare Regina off, and help her somehow instead. She just wanted to do something to make her feel better; anything, really. But she herself was overwhelmed already, so she couldn't even fathom what had to be going on in Regina's head right now.

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively, inching a little closer to the brunette sitting on the other end of the couch. It was a stupid question – a pathetically weak attempt at giving comfort – she knew it, but it was the best she could do right now. "Do I look alright," the brunette laughed bitterly, and finally looked Emma in the eyes. The blonde saw that they were darker than normal; pure chocolate instead of the usual cognac. It looked breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking all at once. It made Emma even more desperate to try and help the other woman with everything she had.

"If you need anything or... whatever, I'm always here to help you, y'know?" Regina just shrugged and looked back down at her hands that were fidgeting in her lap. "Regina, seriously." Carefully, Emma finally reached out and put one of her hands onto Regina's, effectively stopping her fidgeting. "After all we've been through together up until now, I guess it's safe to say we're friends. So stuff it, cuddle up, and just let me help you."

That was the moment Regina completely fell apart. She basically leaped into the blonde's arms, shaking with loud sobs. For a while, Emma just held the other woman, and gently drew random shapes on Regina's upper arm with her pointer finger.

It was the closest they had ever been, at least as far as Emma could remember right then. Regina's hair smelled a little like the expensive shampoo one of the blonde's ex-girlfriends had loved to use – some sort of weird vanilla and lilac mix which was about 50 dollars a bottle. Naturally, Emma had always assumed Regina would smell like apples which was a completely ridiculous thought now that she actually thought it through. Great job with the stereotypes, Swan!

At some point, Regina shifted into a proper sitting position again, but still held on to the other woman for dear life. "I just don't know if I should be happy or devastated," Regina sobbed, looking at Emma with eyes full of desperation, fear, and hope.

Emma was thinking back to the moment she found out she was pregnant with Henry: 17 years old, alone, and in a jail cell. Not the best circumstances. But Regina was in a different situation altogether. She was a strong woman who knew where she stood in life and what she wanted from it. Most importantly, though, she was not alone. She had Emma.


	2. Week 5

"There's no money in the budget for that, George, and you know it," Regina almost hissed, and threw the files with George's proposal onto the table. It was the weekly town council meeting; Emma was bored out of her mind.

For the past half hour she had been tapping her pen against her nose, texting Henry and Ruby, and staring at Regina, who was practically glowing. Although she wasn't even 5 weeks along, Emma thought she was radiating pure... _something_. She looked even more beautiful than she normally already did.

"I think we should..." Regina said confident as ever, before she stopped mid-sentence and lifted a hand do cover her mouth. Considerably paler than before, she mumbled something along the lines of "please excuse me for a moment," before she all but sprinted from the conference room.

For a moment, no one said a word. It was Emma who finally broke the awkward silence: "Just go on with... whatever, I'll go check on her." Grabbing her phone and stuffing it into her pocket, she stood from her seat at the head of the table opposite the one Regina had previously occupied.

Truth to be told, Emma had to hold herself back not to run, that's how worried she was about the other woman. Realistically, she knew that it was probably just the normal morning sickness accompanying the pregnancy, but still.

As predicted, she found the brunette in the little en-suite bathroom attached to her office, hunkered over the toilet.

She must have somehow sensed Emma's presence, because without even lifting her head she barked out a "get out!" Of course the normally so perfectly put-together woman wouldn't want anyone, not even the other mother of her son, to see her in a situation like this.

But Emma wouldn't be Emma if she didn't completely ignore everything Regina told her - like _all the time_; so after a brief moment of just looking at the once-again mayor's blazer-clad back, the savior crouched down next to the older woman.

Carefully reaching out, Emma grabbed Regina's hair and held it back. Gathering all of the dark strands in one hand, she put the other one on the other woman's back, gently rubbing up and down when another wave of nausea hit.

After a while, Regina pulled back from the toilet and sat down on her bottom next to it. She was half leaning against Emma, half leaning against the cold tile wall, while Emma reached over her head to rip some toilet paper from the role, handing it to Regina.

The older woman gave her a tired smile. "Thanks," she mumbled, before she wiped her mouth.

"Let me just get you some water real quick," Emma said before she cumbersomely got up. "There's a bottle on my office table." Regina pulled her legs to her chest, hugging them, and Emma patted her on the head – on the _fucking_ head – on her way out.

Finding the bottle easily enough, she let herself sink on the chair and took a deep breath. It was a miracle that Regina hadn't already murdered her with her bare hands after Emma defied her orders – probably, she was just used to that sort of behavior from the blonde by now. She just couldn't help it though.

Not that Regina was weak, or needy, or anything – she was still hardcore – but she brought Emma's protective instinct out anyway. Deep down, she had always cared about the brunette in one way or another; after all, she was Henry's mother and had raised him to be an incredibly great kid.

She had been able to give Henry what Emma could never have offered him¸ and she would be forever grateful for that. Regina was an amazing mother, and would be even more amazing with a second child.

In order to not let the brunette wait any longer, she eventually got up and went back into the en-suite, where she found Regina still on the floor, eyes close, and head resting against the wall.

"Here you go," she said, while sitting down in front of Regina and holding the bottle out to her. The mayor only smiled in response, opened the bottle, and took a big gulp.

"I had to throw up all the time when I was pregnant with Henry, you know. Pretty annoying." Giving Regina one of her signature lopsided smiles, Emma put a hand on the other woman's knee to offer a little comfort (though she didn't know if she was offering the other woman comfort, or if she was offering it to herself; probably both).

"Thank you," Regina said then, looking Emma straight into the eyes, and grabbed the other woman's hand on her knee. "For everything."


	3. Week 7

When Emma's phone rang at some point around noon, and the caller id said 'Regina,' Emma was instantly worried something might be wrong with the other woman. "Is everything okay? Do you need anything," she asked without even saying hello, almost tripping over her own words.

"I just wanted to ask if you would like to join Henry and me for dinner tonight," Regina replied calmly, smile evident in her voice.

"Yeah, sure; I'd love to! Any special occasion?" Even though they had become friends, and managed to properly organize a fair custody arrangement concerning Henry, the blonde was still surprised every time Regina took the opportunity to include her into something.

"I... well, I wanted to tell him tonight. About... you know, and," the normally so eloquent woman hummed and hawed.

Emma knew where this was going, but she wasn't even mad; she was proud that she was the one Regina called for something like this. "You need some moral support?"

"Something like that," Regina answered, while audibly exhaling a sigh of relief; it was actually kind of cute, Emma thought. "Anything you want me to bring?"

"No. Just be there at around 6.30," Regina answered, all business again.

"Looking forward to it!" Emma practically beamed, although - or maybe especially because - she knew Regina couldn't see it.

"Me too," came the quiet reply, before Regina hung up the phone.

When Emma arrived at the mansion at precisely one minute past 6.30, it was Henry who opened the door a few moments after the blonde had knocked.

* * *

><p>"Hey, kid," she said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face. He, however, wasn't quite as excited when he saw her: "Mom? What are you doing here?"<p>

"I'm having dinner with you guys tonight. Your mom invited me over earlier, didn't she tell you?" Although it was a little weird that Henry hadn't know she would be coming over, she didn't read too much into it. It wasn't like Regina was setting her up or anything; at least not anymore.

"Nope, she didn't," he answered, but then shrugged and stepped aside to let her into the house. They gave each other a quick hug, before Emma started to take off her boots to neatly put them next to the door, just like Regina liked it.

"Mom's in the kitchen," Henry called over his shoulder, before he disappeared into the living room, to probably resume the video game he had been playing before, and Emma smiled.

Regina was standing at the stove, stirring something that smelled absolutely amazing. "How are you doing," Emma asked as she approached the brunette. Turning around just the slightest bit, the mayor gave Emma a radiant smile, before she directed her attention back to whatever she was cooking.

"Not too bad. How was your day?" Slowly, Emma crept even closer to Regina, until she was standing right behind her son's other mother. "Nothing special, just the usual small-town sheriff stuff, and all that jazz."

Regina almost jumped at how close Emma's voice – and therefore Emma herself – was all of a sudden, the blonde could tell. Without thinking, she reached out and placed her left hand on Regina's hip while resting her chin on the other woman's right shoulder.

"Smells amazing," she said, underlined by a ridiculous sniffing noise. From the corner of her eye she could see a slightly flushed Regina turning her head to look at her with an unreadable expression.

That's when the domesticity of it all hit Emma like a ton of bricks, and she ripped herself away from the other woman as if severely burned.

"I... I'm gonna go check on the kid," she all but stuttered, before she basically fled from the room, mentally slapping herself.

* * *

><p>Dinner was a pleasant, albeit a little quiet, affair. As always, the food - salmon with rice and green beans - was absolutely impeccable, and Emma, even though she was quite a decent cook herself, savored every bite. It was Henry who finally broke the somewhat tense silence: "Okay, I might still be a child, but I'm not stupid. Why is mom here?"<p>

Savvy little bastard, Emma thought.

"Henry, we," Regina began, looking over at the blonde, who gave her an encouraging smile. "_I_ have to tell you something." He scrunched up his face in confusion, before his eyes went wide.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Instantly, he was clearly worried. Emma smiled at his display of care for his mother; he loved her so much, and luckily finally realized how much his mother loved him in return, and how much she did for him.

"No, sweetheart. I'm," Regina said, taking what was probably the deepest breath of her life, "I'm going to have a baby."

"Wait, what?" Obviously, he hadn't even thought about this possibility; really, why would he?

"So you guys made like a magical baby?" At this, his complete face lit up like a Christmas tree; to say he was excited seemed like a complete understatement. Emma involuntarily smiled at her son's enthusiasm, but simultaneously, her heart clenched painfully.

He hoped they would be a family; a _real_ family, not this makeshift, half-assed _something_ they were now. It made sense to a 13-year-old, and if Emma was quite honest, it kind of made sense to her as well.

Henry and his two moms, that's how it should be - no dirty pirates, no cheating thieves. Just the three of them working it out somehow.

Regina, however, shattered that pipe dream with her next words: "No. I don't even know if something like that is possible, actually. It's... Robin and I..."

That's as far as she got with her explanation because, instantly, Henry's facial expression changed to one between anger and complete horror.

"You're replacing me," he stated plainly, and Emma thought she could see actual tears forming in his eyes. This was not how she had thought this whole thing would go down, and, probably, neither had Regina.

"Henry, no! Why would you even think that?" The panic in the brunette's voice was almost painfully exuberant.

"You, and Robin, and Roland are such a perfect, happy, little family – and now there's even a new baby that's completely yours." Emma was almost shocked to hear Henry talk like that. Sure, she had heard her son say some pretty nasty things to his brunette mother, but this was something completely different altogether.

It was exactly what Emma had thought more than a year ago in the Echo Caves on Neverland when Mary Margaret had spilled her heart's desire. It hurt her that Henry was going through the same right now.

"Henry, I love you. I," the brunette tried to defend herself, but Henry didn't let her finish.

"I barely got to see you when you were with Robin, because you always spent time with him and Roland. You just replaced me with another child, because I'm not enough."

Before either Regina or Emma could reply, Henry jumped up from his chair which almost tumbled to the floor, and stormed out of the dining room towards the foyer where soon after his steps could be heard on the big staircase.

For a second, the mayor just sat there, eyes tightly closed, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Regina, he doesn't mean it. It's just... it's hard for him, too," Emma said. She just wanted to make it better; get this fucked up situation right somehow. Her comment, however, only made Regina completely dissolve into tears.

As fast as Emma could manage, she got up from her chair, and, upon reaching Regina, engulfed her in a tight hug. Uncoordinated as the sudden emotional outburst was, they tumbled to the floor together, Regina landing on the blonde's lap. They didn't really care.

"He is starting to hate me again," the brunette sobbed against Emma's shoulder, and the savior's heart almost broke at the sight of the broken woman in her arms. This, _all_ of this, wasn't fair.

Being pregnant, having a baby, should be one of the happiest moments in a woman's life, but apparently both of them didn't deserve this happiness.

True, Emma might have involuntarily made the whole Robin situation a tad more complicated than strictly necessary, but Regina had forgiven her for that, since she knew the blonde hadn't wanted to hurt her on purpose. It was Robin who had fucked it all up with his sneaking around and the cheating. He was an asshole, and if Emma was completely honest, she was more than glad that he was gone for good, even though it might be selfish.

But she was ready to help Regina through it, to pick up the pieces and put them back together. She would get Regina the happy ending she deserved; the real deal, not something where she was only second choice. The former queen was worth so much more.

"What? No, that is complete bullshit, Regina! He loves you, he loves you so much, he just... let me talk to him, okay?"

Emma gently stroked the mayor's hair, until Regina replied with a nod against the savior's neck, and Emma kissed her on the forehead before she untangled herself from her, and got up to comfort their son.

* * *

><p>"Kid? You ok?" The question was accompanied by a tentative knock on the closed door to Henry's room.<p>

"No," came the muffled reply from inside, before Emma slowly opened the door. When she entered his room, she found him face down on his bed, head hidden beneath a pillow.

"Henry, listen. Your mom," the blonde started, but her son didn't let her finish.

"I hate Robin," he hissed, while turning on the bed and sitting up. Emma could see the remainders of tears glistening on her son's cheeks.

"Hate is a strong word, Henry." Saying this, Emma felt like a complete fucking hypocrite, because when it came down to it, Henry was completely right. Robin was a goddamn asshole, fooling around with two women, and hurting Regina in the process.

"But I do! He is not good for mom! He just lies, and cheats, and is not at all honorable and fair. He stole my mom from me!" Hearing her son utter the words she was thinking herself almost made her cry like a baby. Robin hadn't only hurt Regina, he had also hurt Henry; and when those two were hurting, Emma was as well. They were her family after all.

"You know that she sent him over the town line, right?" she tried to make him feel better. "He can't come back, even if he wanted to. She chose you, kid, and she always will. She loves you so, _so_ much."

She sat down onto the bed next to him, and Henry, much like his brunette mother only minutes before, instantly leapt into Emma's arms and held her close. "I know, but," he mumbled against her chest.

"But what?" Emma sure as hell didn't know what her son was talking about at the moment.

"I thought you and mom... together," he started, but didn't finish his thought.

"Me and Regina together _what_, Henry? You're not making any sense," Emma replied, confused. She did't know what the hell her son was talking about right now, and the sheepish grin he sent her way didn't help at all.

He just kept looking at her for a while. And then it dawned on Emma. In his naive way of thinking, he had actually thought, maybe even wished, that she and Regina were… _an item_. She almost laughed out loud.

True, she and Regina had been getting along quite well in the past weeks (apart from the whole Marian debacle, of course); they had worked together, managed to work out a proper custody arrangement when it came to their son, and even spent time together alone without tearing each other apart.

And especially Regina's pregnancy and the fact that Emma - apart from Henry now - was still the only one who actually knew. She was Regina's confidant, a partner in crime, her _friend_.

Emma wanted to set things right and explain to Henry what was actually going on - or rather not going on - between her and his other mother, but Henry interrupted the blonde before she could even start.

"Are you sure he's never gonna come back? Robin, I mean," Henry said, still pressed tightly against his mother. Her shirt was a little wet from his tears, his clasp a little constricting, but she wouldn't change it for the world.

"Pretty positive, yeah," she replied, ruffling his hair and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Okay."

"Okay?" She still wasn't sure if he really understood all this; hell, she barely even understood it herself. But she needed to make sure he was all right. After all, she had her own experience with this topic.

"I know how you feel, Henry. When Snow and David first told me they were having a second baby, I was unhappy as well. I thought I wasn't good enough, but that's not it at all. They don't love me any less now that they have Neal, they just love even more; they love both of us. And I know your mom will do the same. She loves you so much, and I love you so much, and I l-... care about her as well. We're gonna make it work; together, as a family."

"Promise?" He extended his pinky, and Emma grinned. "Promise," she replied, connecting her finger to his.

He then detached himself from her, and gave her a smile that was at least somewhat more convincing than before.

"I happen to know that your mom downloaded 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' and might be in favor of watching it tonight," she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "But first, you owe her a big, fat apology, kid."

Instantly, he jumped up from the bed, and all but sprinted out of the room.

"Mom?" Henry asked tentatively, as he slowly entered the dining room, Emma at his heels. Regina was sitting on one of the chairs again, and had removed most of the tears from her face, though her puffy, red eyes still betrayed her.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it," Henry quietly said, while he approached his mother. Once he had reached her, he climbed onto her lap, even though he was technically a little too big for it by now.

"I love you." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and put her arms around the brunette, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I love you, too, Henry," Regina answered, before she pressed a kiss to his hair and returned his embrace. Emma's heart almost melted at the sight of mother and son. They had come so far in the past year, all of them, and it made her incredibly happy that she was part of this unconventional family.

"We're gonna figure it out; you, and me, and mom." Regina embraced her son even tighter, while looking up and meeting Emma's eyes. The blonde was smiling at the pair in front of her.

* * *

><p>Eventually, they settled in for the movie, getting comfortable on the couch in front of the big television in the living room. Henry was draped halfway across both his mothers, who were sitting right and left from him.<p>

One of Emma's arms lay on the backrest behind them, and she was so intently following the movie plot that she, at first, didn't even notice when Regina let her head fall back to rest against the blonde's hand.

At some point, she did notice, though, and looked at Regina. The mayor gave her a content smile over the head of their son, who was slowly drifting off to sleep, when the brunette reached behind her, and took the other woman's hand.

"Thank you," she mouthed, before she turned her attention back to the television screen, never letting go of Emma's hand.


	4. Week 10

**Trigger warning: Mention of rape/sexual abuse and miscarriage.**

It was a few days before Valentine's Day, and Emma and Regina were sitting at Granny's having lunch after a budget meeting earlier in the day, which, if you asked the sheriff, had been the most boring thing since the umpteenth re-run of 'Titanic' on tv over the Christmas holiday.

Right now, however, the combination of greasy food and good company was lifting her mood significantly. They were talking about everyday topics, like Henry's upcoming chess championship, the complete ridiculousness of Valentine's Day, and the fact that, apparently, Dr. Whale was now going out with Ashley. _Gross_.

Later in the day, Regina was due for her first checkup at the gynecologist, which the brunette (and Emma as well, if she was quite honest) had been positively freaking out about all week already. It just made this whole thing a lot more _real_.

"Are you sure you want me to come with you? It might be a bit too… intimate? I don't know." A year, hell, even a few months ago, Emma would've laughed right in the face of anyone who tried told her that she would one day join no other than Regina _fucking_ Mills to a doctor's appointment, and at a ladies doctor no less.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to," Regina said nonchalantly, stealing two fries from Emma's plate. The blonde could see that, although Regina tried to pretend not to care, she actually did quite a lot.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just want _you_ to be comfortable." Emma herself would have loved to have someone with her for support during her first OB appointment when being pregnant with Henry. But Regina wasn't seventeen, or in prison. She was an accomplished, independent woman, and, next to her, sometimes Emma still felt like the awkward, inept teenager she had once been.

"So you're coming with me," Regina deadpanned with a smirk, and Emma wondered, when the tiger that used to be the other woman had become a cute little kitten that needed lots of cuddles and love.

"God, being pregnant really made you a touchy-feely wussy already." Emma laughed, while putting some more fries from her plate onto the brunette's. Their bantering had always been the blonde's favorite way of communicating with the other woman, and, at this point, it was definitely more affectionate than anything else.

"Do shut up, Miss Swan," the mayor chastised with a huge grin on her face, and kicked the blonde's boot-clad ankle under the table.

Emma was surprised when she found out that there were more doctors than Whale, because the idea of him doing, well, _stuff_ with Regina's body actually made her gag. Dr. Andersen, however, seemed to be both, competent and not a complete creeper, so Emma was relatively relaxed when she and Regina took a seat in the examination room.

"First of all, I'm going to ask you something about your medical history, Miss Mills; and if you know something about him - the donor, I mean," the doctor - a tan woman with unruly hair, who was probably in her forties - said, while she typed something on the computer on her desk.

"Donor?" Confused, Regina looked over at the saviour for clarification, but Emma just gave her a shrug, accompanied by an apologetic smile. "I am talking about the sperm donor the two of you used to have this baby," Dr. Andersen added, and Emma almost choked on her own spit.

"We didn't…" - "we aren't…," they started simultaneously, not finishing their sentences. Regina's face was flushed, panic in her eyes, and Emma was sure she looked pretty much the same. She wanted to laugh about the utter ridiculousness of the doctor's assumption, but she knew that wouldn't go down well with Regina, so she stuffed it.

"Oh, excuse me, I just thought… well, then the medical history of the father, perhaps?" The woman was obviously embarrassed about her mistake, although it had been the most obvious explanation of the two women in front of her attending this appointment together.

"There is no father," Regina was quick to say in a flat tone. Confused, Dr. Andersen looked from her to Emma and back again; the blonde just shrugged apologetically. "It's kind of a long story…"

Wow, good thing this whole situation wasn't awkward _at all_. Emma wanted to slap herself for agreeing to accompany the other woman, but if Regina asked something of her, she somehow had a hard time saying no. It was probably weird, and said something about herself she didn't even want to know, so she simply didn't think about the fact too much.

She was just helping Regina get back on her feet, since the whole Robin-and-Marian debacle had been more or less her fault. With everything she was doing for the other woman, she was simply making up for ruining her happy ending; at least that was what she was telling herself.

Regina's extremely _lousy_ happy ending, Emma thought, because if you actually looked at Robin in the bright light of day, he wasn't exactly Prince Charming. But he had been what Regina had wanted, or maybe still wanted, the blonde didn't really know - they were careful not to speak about _you know who_.

This whole pixie dust and destined soulmate bullshit had seemed pretty shady to the sheriff from the beginning. It sounded a lot like having decisions forced upon oneself, losing control, and arranged marriages with no way out; it sounded like a complete and utter nightmare.

Hell, Emma didn't even believe in that ridiculous True Love business, but that was probably just her own screwed up past relationships talking - you didn't expect a lot from love when your first crush was a lier, your first boyfriend got you pregnant before letting you rot in jail for him, and your almost-fiancé turned out to be a goddamn flying monkey.

She just wanted something nice, something easy. It didn't have to be perfect, or a fairytale, hell, it didn't even have to be forever. Someone smart and witty who challenged her; someone with a sense of humor; someone who understood her past, and was maybe just as broken as she herself was.

Not someone like Hook who didn't bath and had just managed to annoy her enough with his advances for her to give in. He probably thought they were still dating, although they hadn't seen each other in weeks, and Emma had never actually seen him as an actual boyfriend, anyway; he had just been _there_.

Emma kind of zoned out when Dr. Andersen asked the mayor about regular menstrual cycles, periods, and vomiting, because - _yuck _- she didn't really want to know. She had first hand experience with all that stuff herself, thank you very much.

So she looked at Regina instead, who wassitting almost painfully straight in her chair, eager to give the perfect answer to every question. When she began to stutter after being asked about past pregnancies, however, Emma was quick to pay attention again.

"I… I had a few miscarriages when… back in the Enchanted Forest." Wait, _what_?

"How many?" The doctor was staring at Regina with a look of empathy on her face, as if she knew something Emma didn't.

"Five, if I remember correctly," she said quietly, looking down on her hands which were nervously fidgeting in her lap. To say Emma was completely shocked would have been a vast understatement.

True, from what she knew about Cora, Leopold, and her own short visit to the old land, she had figured that Regina's life in the Enchanted Forest hadn't been the best time of her life, but the idea had the brunette had already been pregnant at some point hadn't even crossed her mind.

Thinking about what Mary Margaret's father had done to the mayor made her sick. She must have barely been eighteen, just like Emma when she had found out she was pregnant with Henry in jail.

It was true, they had both been through some pretty bad shit in their lives already; maybe that was why - after the initial animosity - they now got along so well. They just _got_ each other; it was nice. Easy.

"At what point during the pregnancies did you lose the babies?" This was definitely not what Emma had expected to happen. She had been anticipating smiles, giggles, and tears of joy, not the boulevard of broken dreams.

"Normally during the first trimester. I carried one way into the seventh month, but it was stillborn." Emma wanted to know more, but she was smart enough to not ask the brunette about it right on the spot. This was a topic for a night on the couch, after they'd put Henry to bed, and completely ignored the movie they were trying to watch to talk instead.

An evening like that had been a somewhat regular occurrence over the past weeks, and Emma would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy those intimate, personal moments with Regina. The other woman was just easy to talk to; she didn't judge, or condemn, or react prejudiced. She simply listened. It was liberating.

"Any medical conditions or medication you take on a regular basis?"

"I took sleeping pills quite often about two years ago, but right now, no; nothing." This, Emma knew about. They had talked about it a few weeks ago, after Emma had told Regina about the brief period in her early teenage years when she had been addicted to prescription drugs, stealing them from her foster mother's medicine cabinet.

"Are you drinking, smoking, or taking drugs?"

"Nothing apart from the occasional glass of red wine or my self-made apple cider, but I completely stopped drinking alcoholic beverages ever since I first found out I am pregnant." Emma wanted to smile about the fact that - of course - the mayor was the picture perfect pregnant woman, but she was still too concerned, too troubled about what she had just learned about the other mother of her son.

"Any psychological conditions that might have a negative impact on your pregnancy? Depression, anxiety disorders, abuses you have suffered in the past?"

When Regina said nothing, Emma looked at her with a concerned expression: "I can go outside, if you want me to." She didn't want to make it harder on the other woman than strictly necessary, because she was pretty certain this was hard enough already. The only problem, however, was that she wasn't exactly sure if her presence was making it easier for Regina or not.

Of course, she hoped she was helping Regina, but she could also see how this wasn't the ideal situation for learning the other woman's deep, dark secrets. They should be sitting on the mayor's big, comfy couch in front of the fireplace and talk about all of this, if Regina actually felt like sharing it with the sheriff, that was. It should be just them, not a doctor they both didn't actually know third wheeling along.

"No, don't be ridiculous, I just…" Regina broke off, taking - what Emma guessed - had to be the deepest breath of her life.

"Technically speaking, I have been raped, I guess," the older woman almost whispered, and Emma hoped she didn't hear her correctly. "The sexual relations between me and my… King Leopold haven't exactly been consensual on my part."

Regina's hands were fidgeting in her lap again, and the blonde desperately wanted to reach over and take them into hers, but she couldn't. She was completely unable to move; paralyzed by shock, anger, and empathy.

Although she herself had never actually been raped, and therefore could not even imagine the pain it had to had caused Regina, she had had her fair share of handsy foster dads over the years, and the demons of those memories still haunted her today. It had to be about a billion times worse for the other mother of her son.

"Please excuse me for a moment." Emma, pale as clay, was careful not to look at Regina while getting up from the chair next to the other woman. Without another word - or any idea about where to go - she left the room.

It was too much. What Regina had had to go through in her life was simply too much to handle for the blonde, who had always thought that her life had sucked balls, but the former queen's was a whole other level of awful altogether.

After walking down corridors and stairs in a haze, Emma found herself outside on the sidewalk in front of the building. It was pretty cold, and of course her jacket was still hanging over the back of the chair in the doctor's office upstairs. _Fuck_.

Because she didn't know what else to do, she simply sat down on the sidewalk, and crossed her legs, burying her face in her hands. She was such an idiot.

Instead of running, and therefore sitting out here in the cold, probably catching pneumonia, she should be in there, helping Regina. This wasn't about her, it was about the brunette.

"Hey," a voice behind the blonde suddenly said, and Emma almost jumped up, ready to attack, from where she was sitting on the sidewalk. When she turned around, however, it was only Regina, so she replied with a "hey" of her own.

"Are you okay?" Regina looked completely calm and put together, and Emma wondered, if she had been out here for a few hours; she seriously didn't know.

"Are _you_ okay?" If the situation hadn't been that serious, Emma would have laughed. How could Regina _do_ that? How could she - after all the horrible things people had done to her - still care more about other people than herself?

"Emma… all of this happened more than forty years ago. I'm not saying anything that happened was okay, anything he _did _was okay, but I learnt to live with it. And Henry helped a lot when it came to forgetting. I'm okay," she gently said, giving the sheriff a tentative smile.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met, I hope you know that." Emma had actual tears in her eyes, which would have been completely embarrassing, if this was anyone else. But with Regina, it was okay; it was okay to show weakness, to be vulnerable.

"Emma," Regina said in a tone that suggested she thought what the blonde was saying was complete and utter bullshit; the only thing missing was the signature eye roll she had perfected while telling the blonde she was an idiot.

"I'm serious! You're amazing!" It was astounding how they had gone from 'You're a monster,' and 'He's _my _son,' to supporting and ensuring each other. To anyone looking from the outside, it had to appear weird; an unlikely friendship between two completely different women. But from the inside, for them, it made absolute sense.

"Thanks," Regina mumbled almost shyly; it was kind of cute.

"Sorry I just left you in there, I just… I couldn't. Are you all done?" On the one hand, the sheriff hoped she was, so she didn't have to hear any more stories of Regina getting hurt, and mistreated, and used; on the other hand, she didn't want mohave missed the whole thing.

"I took some tests, the nasty stuff: blood, pelvis exam, urine sample; but I still need to get the ultrasound. I just… never mind, just forget it, I'm gonna go back inside. You can wait here, or go home, if you want to," the brunette said, and turned around to go back inside the building.

"Regina, wait," Emma quickly said, while grabbing the older woman's wrist. "What is it?"

Instead of looking at her, the brunette looked at the floor. "I thought you might want to see it, too. Probably, I just didn't want to do it alone; have someone to share with afterwards." She halfheartedly tried to get out of Emma's grip, but the blonde didn't let her, and instead took her hand.

"Of course I'm gonna join; wouldn't miss it for the world. Come on."

"Just lie down there, please, and lift your shirt," Dr. Andersen said with a smile once they reentered the room. "This might be a little cold now." Regina let out a quiet hiss as the gel came in contact with her belly, but quickly relaxed again, while the doctor started to move the ultrasonic handpiece.

"There's your baby," she said, when _something_ appeared on the screen. Although Emma couldn't make out anything (and if so, it looked more like a squirrel than a proper human being), she still stared at the grey picture in complete wonder. "At this point it's just one small lump of baby." Sounded about right.

To Regina, however, it seemed to actually resemble a child, because when Emma looked over at the other woman on the gurney, she saw tears glistening in the brunette's eyes, accompanied by a blindingly bright smile on her lips. It made the savior's heart melt.

Apart from the occasional outburst of joy involving their son, it wasn't often that Emma saw the former queen this happy, which was actually kind of a shame. Regina should always be happy. After the decades of heartache and pain, it was the least she deserved.

If Emma could, she would give her everything: love, and happiness, and a true happy ending and… woah, okay, _stop it, Swan. Even if s_he would walk to the moon and back for the other woman, if necessary, that wasn't Emma's role, it wasn't what Regina wanted from her. It was her task to _find_ Regina's happy ending, not to want to _be_ it. She was only a friend.

"But from now on, he or she going to grow every day, and when you have your mid-pregnancy ultrasound in a few weeks, we're going to be able to tell apart arms, and legs, and all the other parts. If we're lucky, though, we can already hear your babies heartbeat right now."

At that, Regina looked even more excited. A few seconds of deafening silence followed, before a strong and steady sound filled the room, and a single tear ran down Regina's cheek.

"I am going to give you some prenatal vitamins you need to take," Dr. Andersen said while scribbling on a notepad on her desk. "Make sure you eat healthy, and also enough. Make sure to avoid raw seafood like sushi, soft cheese, and cut back on caffeine."

Emma was about one hundred and five percent sure that Regina knew all that already. Because she knew the other woman, and even though the mayor had changed, she was still a complete control freak, who always had to be on top of everything; so she had probably read her way through countless websites, and maybe even bought some books already.

"Be prepared to experience mood swings, bloating, fatigue, tender breasts, and of course the infamous frequent urination." _Oh please_, tell me something new, Emma thought, but when she looked to her right, Regina was listening intently.

"Sexual intercourse is completely safe, as long as you don't experience any unusual symptoms, such as bleeding, severe abdominal pain, or persistent leg cramp." Emma was still looking at Regina, who, in that moment, lifted her gaze and meet Emma's eyes for only a second before she averted them again, blushing furiously, which, in turn, made the blonde blush as well. _Awkward_.

"You can clean your abdomen with this," Dr. Andersen said while giving Regina a few paper towels. "I'm just gonna print you a nice photo of your baby, and then you're good to go." She smiled, and then turned around to press some buttons on the machine that, to Emma, still looked like something aliens from another planet might abduct you with.

Once they had left the examination room, Regina halted and looked at the picture still in her hand. "Oh my God, I'm having a baby," she said, lifting her eyes to meet Emma's, and sporting the brightest smile the blonde had ever seen on anyone.


	5. Week 13

It was a Saturday night about three weeks after the first ultrasound, and Emma, Regina, and Henry were sitting in the living room, after having had an impromptu family dinner earlier, each of them engrossed in a different book.

The two women were sprawled across the big couch in front of the fireplace; at some point a while ago, the mayor's feet had found their way onto the savior's lap, and were still there now. Henry was laying on his stomach on the second, smaller couch, reading a book Belle had recommended to him when he had visited her at the library earlier in the week - something about digging holes in the hot sun and juvie, which made Emma question, if the book was actually appropriate, but apparently his other mother had nodded it through, so the blonde was okay with it as well. She trusted Regina.

The whole scene was almost sickeningly domestic, and, under normal circumstances, something like this, something that felt important, and like it might finally last, would have scared Emma shitless, making her run for the hills, but this - sitting here with her son and his other mother, just being content having the others around - felt so right, it made the blonde want to cry about how perfect it was. This was _family_.

Although she would rather watch the new Ellen Page movie she had just gotten on dvd, or beat the kid in Mario Kart, she was, for Regina's sake, instead, reading a book called 'The Better Baby Book' right now. It was one from the pile of about twenty on the coffee table, most if which the other woman had already read, of course.

To be honest, the book wasn't even that bad, but it kind of freaked the blonde out how crazy some women got about pregnancy, and having the best baby on the planet. Sure, it was important to eat healthy, not get too stressed out, and just take care of oneself in general, but epigenetic research or strict meal plans seemed to take this whole thing one step too far for the sheriff.

While Regina mostly thought the same way, and they often laughed about particularly crazy ideas together, the mother-to-be was also deeply concerned about getting this pregnancy _right_. Understandable, after what she had been through, which was why Emma tried to support her to her best abilities.

They had already managed to get through the first trimester without any problems - knock on wood - the mayor's morning sickness was getting better as well, and, hidden under wide blouses and flittering dresses, she was even already beginning to show. They were doing great.

Every day, the women had lunch together at Regina's office, where Emma would vent about her parents, and baby Neal's inability to sleep through the night, while Regina complained about the stupidity of the people in Storybrooke, and the sheriff's apparent inability fill out paperwork correctly.

A few nights a week, the savior came over to the mansion to have family dinner with just the three of them, which, more often than not, ended with Emma falling asleep on the couch during whatever they were watching on tv that night, and, therefore, involuntarily sleeping over (though Regina entertained the strong suspicion that the blonde did it on purpose to get a good night's sleep and an amazing cup of coffee along with cinnamon french toast every once in a while - aka at least twice a week; she wasn't complaining, though).

Just when the blonde was reading a particularly disturbing passage about brushing your nipples with a toothbrush to ready them for breastfeeding (seriously, what the _fuck_), Henry let out a dramatic sigh, and then piped up from his couch: "You guys are super boring tonight; just like an old married couple. I'm going up to my room." He was wearing a shit-eating grin.

Quickly, Emma took off one of her slippers, throwing it at him, and missing him by about 200 miles. His grin only got bigger.

"Alright, sweetheart. But don't forget…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, mom: lights out at 9.30, no sneaking around." He rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. Although most of his mother's rules and prohibitions still annoyed him, he accepted them, and, most importantly, knew they were a sign of her caring about him. Plus, he could always lull his other mother into breaking or bending the rules - having two moms was so much better than having just one.

"That's my little prince." Regina smiled, ruffling his hair, and pressing a kiss to his temple. She was still happy that he was willingly accepting her affection again, though she feared this might change again soon due to his teenage years.

"Night, kid," Emma said, while giving him a half hug. She was one hundred and five percent sure that he was going to stay awake longer than half past nine, because he either wanted to finish his book or text one of the girls from his English class she knew he had a crush on, even if he didn't want to admit it. "Night, moms."

"Little shit," Emma mumbled once he was gone, and put the book aside. "We're not boring!"

"That's what you're mad about? Not the 'old married couple'-part?" Regina laid her book down as well, but not before carefully putting a bookmark inside, and watched the woman next to her with a mixture of genuine curiosity and amusement.

"Oh come on! You have to admit it's kind of true. At least if we judge by the eye roll frequency."

"Idiot," Regina said with a smile on her face. By rolling her eyes out of sheer reflex, she unintentionally proofed the blonde's theory right.

"But at least I'm a charming idiot," the blonde argued, grinning widely. In this moment, and although she knew for sure that Regina would deliver a verbal blow, she was completely unguarded. She knew that the other woman didn't have any bad intentions anymore; they were just joking around like some silly teenagers.

"Debatable," Regina deadpanned, and Emma's smile grew even wider at how well she knew the other woman by now. It was so natural that it was almost scary, but really, the sheriff didn't care; she wasn't scared anymore.

"Asshole," she murmured, unsuccessfully trying to hide it behind a fake cough.

"Excuse me?" Regina adjusted the reading glasses on her nose (which looked really, awfully sexy, _damn it_), and tried to give the blonde her best patented Evil Queen glare.

"Love you," Emma singsonged, picking her book back up to quickly hide her face behind it once she realized what she had just said.

* * *

><p>"Interestingly enough, apparently, you are supposed to have increased libido when pregnant," Regina said after a period of silence, and Emma almost jumped up from her spot on the couch in surprise.<p>

"You feeling it yet?" Emma wasn't completely sure, if she really wanted to talk about this topic with Regina. It wasn't that she was prim or anything, because she for sure wasn't, she just… for some reason, it made her a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks for your concern, Miss Swan, but no, I don't. However, I'll let you know when it is the case," the former queen said in her best 'Mayor Mills means serious business'-voice, a huge smile on her face.

"Please do. I did vow to give you your happy ending, after all. And that includes all areas…" The savior wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and burst into laughter, when the mayor just looked at her in utter confusion.

It took the brunette a second, but then she understood exactly _what _ it was the other woman was implying.

"_Emma_!" The mayor flushed bright red, and, for maybe the first time since Emma had met her, was completely speechless. It was endearing.

"Relax, woman! I'm kidding!" Emma laughed, almost doubling over, and the brunette playfully slapped her knee in response. "Jeez, I didn't take you for that uptight."

"I'm not," Regina stated matter-of-factly, while the sheriff just grinned at her, smug as ever.

"I did have... relations with women already, if that's your definition of what 'not being uptight' means." This actually, genuinely surprised the blonde. Regina just seemed so… _straight_. But, to be fair, apart from the occasional plaid shirt, and sitting around like a guy with massive balls most of the time, Emma didn't look too gay herself.

It took Regina a few minutes after her revelation to find her voice again: "What about you?" It was a tentative question, and if Emma didn't know better, she would think Regina was actually anxious about the answer. But Emma did know better; why would Regina be, Emma thought, and felt utterly ridiculous.

"What about me what?" Emma asked, legitimately confused. Good lord, sometimes she really had the attention span of a goldfish; embarrassing.

"Did you ever get involved with another woman?"

The sheriff only hesitated a second, before she answered in the affirmative: "My first crush was a girl, actually; Lily. I met her when I almost got busted for shoplifting - she saved my ass." And that was when the scales fell from her eyes. "She looked like you, to be honest." How - _the hell_ - had she never seen it before? They could basically be twins.

Thinking about it, she did definitely have a type when it came to women: dark haired and fierce, with a complicated past, and at least a small flaw. Lily, Ruby, and also Victoria, who she had dated on and off in her early twenties - a half-black, half-Asian lawyer with bipolar depression. The biggest shocker about this realization, however, was that Regina fitted the category perfectly. _Oh shit._

Looking genuinely concerned, the mayor tilted her head. "What happened?"

"She lied to me about stuff and I ran. Story of my life." Emma shrugged, because, really, who cared about that shit anymore? She had never had any luck with other people, no matter on what level, and, at this point in life, she had (sometimes more, sometimes less) come to terms with that.

However, her unlucky streak had stopped when Henry had first come to find her back in Boston all those years ago. Since then, she had friends, she had parents, and a son; and she had Regina.

"I'm sorry," the other woman said quietly, looking so, _so_ sad and empathetic, it almost broke Emma's heart. Regina had been a completely different person from the woman the blonde had met on the mansion's front porch when she had first brought Henry back home before the pregnancy already, but now she was even more drastically different; all cuddles and fluff. Emma liked this new version, even though it probably wouldn't last, but she had already liked the one before, and the one before that, and the one… woah, okay; _enough, Swan_!

"Don't be. It was like 15 years ago. I'm over it."

"I can still be sorry, can't I? You deserve to be happy, too, you know. I want you to be." Emma wanted to cry about how much the other woman apparently cared about her. Never would she have thought she would ever have a person like that in her life, and even less that this person would be Regina, of all people. She was glad about it, though.

"There would be no Henry, if it had worked out with her; and that's a big 'if,'" Emma said, because it was true. She had known Lily for like a day, and although that day had been pretty intense (and the reason for her first tattoo), it was still more the idea of Lily than the girl herself that was so important.

It had been Lily who had showed her that there were people who understood, people who cared, but also people who lied to you. Thanks to her, Emma had finally learned how to cope with that, how to protect herself, without complete isolation. And, most importantly, Lily had finally made her realize that she liked women more than men. She had been the last puzzle piece in the jigsaw that was Emma Swan.

"And I'd rather have Henry - and you - than some teenage fling that probably wouldn't have lasted anyway. I am happy." It was the truth. She was in a good place right now, and her life was the best it had ever been; she was loved, and had people to love in return. She had a family.

"I'm glad you are." Regina gave her a gentle smile, and reached for the blonde's forearm, giving it a light squeeze. For a while, they just looked at each other with something between curiosity, understanding, and affection. It almost seemed like the brunette was leaning in a little, but before anything could happen, Emma completely destroyed any possibility of whatever had been about to happen with her next words.

"Oh, and I hooked up with Ruby when I first came to town," the blonde said with a shrug and a lopsided smile, and Regina just stared at her, mouth slightly agape. True, she had never told Regina about any of this before, but, also, she had never _asked_; and now that they were talking about already anyway, she could just put all her cards on the table. "You had me so riled up, I needed to let off steam somewhere. Ruby was available and willing."

"And you would have never let me get into your pants, anyway," Emma mumbled without even thinking, eyes cast down on her hands. God, why had she even started telling the brunette all this.

"How would you know, if you never asked, dear?" While Emma looked back up again and just stared at the other woman in complete shock, mouth slightly agape, Regina gave her a wicked smirk, before she got up and left the living room, headed for the kitchen.


	6. Week 15

Happy New Year, my lovelies! Make it a great one!

The story has almost 200 follows already, I can't believe! Thank you so much for that, and the reviews as well, and I really hope you'll keep enjoying this story!

This chapter is a little shorter again, I'm sorry, but I have so much stuff to do for uni that I'm glad I managed to write anything.

And now please enjoy a horrified Snow White!

xx

* * *

><p>"You're an idiot," Regina laughed, and threw a grape towards Emma, before popping another one in her mouth.<p>

"Tell me something I don't know, woman." The blonde smiled, adjusting her sunglasses, before she turned around to lay on her stomach.

It was a pretty warm day for the end of March, which is why Emma and Regina had spent most of it on a tiny blanket out in the mansion's backyard, sipping homemade lemonade, and discussing what was a necessary acquisition for the baby, and what wasn't.

Emma wanted to get everything and more, which, Archie would tell her, probably had something to do with guilt and making up for past failures, while Regina was obsessed with gadgets that helped monitor the baby in every possible situation (talk about control freaks).

Henry was spending the day, and the night as well, at a friend's place to play some new video game, eat tons of sweets Regina didn't allow him to eat, and, most likely, talk about girls, or whatever it was teenage boys did when they were alone. (Emma didn't really know, even though she thought and acted like one more often than not.)

With Henry away, they had decided to have dinner at Granny's later, because Regina had a serious craving for Fettuccine Alfredo in combination with chicken nuggets at the moment, and, as most times, Emma was too lazy to cook on a Saturday night.

The sun was slowly beginning to set, when they packed the things they had had in the garden with them away, and started to make their way over to the diner by foot.

Because of the nice weather, Regina, who was actually showing quite a bit already now, was wearing a rather form-fitting long sleeved shirt, and Emma thought she looked absolutely stunning.

For some weird reason, she had always found pregnancy really, really attractive on women, and, of course, Regina, who was gorgeous 24/7 anyway, was no exception. _Damn it._

As they walked up to Granny's, they were discussing who's fault it was that their son was a horribly early riser (who had woken them up at 6.30 on a fucking Saturday morning, much to Emma's dismay). The blonde, of course, found Regina completely guilty of the too short night, because, first of all, she had raised Henry for the first 10 years, and, secondly, as opposed to Regina, the sheriff never got up before at least 12pm of her own accord.

Laughing, the brunette swatted the other woman's arm and muttered something along the lines of "too much Lion King," as Emma held the door open for her and they entered the diner together.

It was pleasantly empty for a weekend night, and they were already heading for their usual table by the window in the back, when a voice they both knew all too well disturbed the moment they were having.

"Emma! Regina!" Snow was wearing one of her larger than life smiles on her lips as she waved the two women over to the booth she was occupying with baby Neal, and Emma sighed internally; the quiet night alone with Regina was over before it had even begun.

Automatically, the savior put her hand on Regina's lower back to guide her to her mother's table, and also give her something to anchor her and keep calm.

Although they all had found a truce of sorts, and could, most likely, even be considered a family, sometimes, Regina still reacted hostile to Snow's presence. Really, Emma couldn't blame her. She loved her mother, and was incredibly happy to finally have found her parents, but, sometimes, Snow was complete overkill.

The pixie haired woman was in the middle of saying something about Henry, David, and fishing, when her eyes suddenly grew wide and her gaze went from Regina's belly to Emma and back to Regina. "_Regina?!_ Are you pre…? How…?"

"Seeing as you are a mother of two, I would like to think you know that babies don't appear out of thin air," the mayor said cooly, face void of emotion.

"But… oh my God! You slept with _Robin_?" It was loud enough for some of the other patrons sitting in the diner to turn around, interested in what was happening. "You didn't even know him for two weeks! _Two weeks!_" Snow looked absolutely horrified.

"Mom…" Emma's tone was low, a warning. She didn't need this unnecessary fuss right now (or ever, for that matter). All she wanted was to spend a nice evening with Regina, but, most probably, that wasn't going to happen. Not after this.

"But it's true! And he is _married_!"

"Just stuff it, okay? It's not ideal, but we're trying to make the best of it," the blonde said in an attempt at being diplomatic, which, unfortunately, completely backfired.

"W-_what_? You two…?" If it was possible, her eyes grew even wider, and Emma didn't want to know _what exactly_ her mother was thinking right now. She was probably imagining that the former queen was corrupting her sweet, innocent daughter with magic and kinky lesbian sex. If only, Emma thought, and instantly blushed at her inappropriate thoughts. _Get your act together, Swan!_

"_We_ are co-parents; it doesn't matter if it applies to one kid or more," the blonde said confidently, although she and Regina had never actually discussed what would happen after the baby was born. If she was completely honest, she would love to be a part of the baby's life, would love to see it grow up.

Not necessarily because she had missed all that with Henry - no one could ever take his place in her heart, and, thanks to Regina, she actually had memories of him when he was younger anyway - but because she wanted to see Regina experience it all. She wanted to see Regina with a baby in her arms, with a toddler on her hip, with a first-grader next to her; she wanted to see Regina be a mother.

"And besides, stop being such a hypocrite! _You_ got pregnant with me after like a day of being with dad, and before the curse broke you had a fuckin' affair with him while _he_ was married! People who live in glass houses, you know," Emma continued, because sometimes Snow was so deluded, it was an insult to every rationally thinking person.

"I… Your father and I are True Loves, that is something completely different!" Of course that was her argument, the savior thought, having to be careful not to roll her eyes.

With her mother, that was what it _always_ came down to, and, frankly, it was fucking annoying. Shoving her True Love bullshit in everyone's face was almost an obsession of the other woman. Maybe - _maybe_ - Emma would find it less repulsive, if she had a True Love of her own, maybe she would understand, but since she didn't, and probably never would, she didn't give a flying fuck about her mother's constant talk about butterflies, puppies, and world peace.

"And Regina and Robin are like Pixie Dust certified soulmates. How is that any different?"

"Oh _please!_ He is _not_ her True Love," Snow scoffed, and Emma couldn't believe her ears. Was her mother actually serious about this? The woman who loved everything and everyone didn't allow the mother of her own grandchild love and happiness.

"Wow, that's rich, mom. Do you still hate her that much? You can't even not begrudge her her happy ending, after all she's been through? Don't you think she more than earned it by now? She saved all our asses ten thousand times already, and she has been miserable for so long; just give her a damn break, will you?"

At this point in the discussion, Emma was completely and utterly pissed. Nobody was allowed to talk about Regina like that, least of all the woman who, once upon a time, had cost the brunette her first love. For once in a long, long time, Regina had been happy, and - not least thanks to Emma herself - that happiness had been ripped from her again, before she could even actually enjoy it.

True, the blonde had never been particularly fond of that forest hobo and the fact that he was Regina's apparent happy ending, but, for Regina's sake, she had accepted it, and kept her mouth shut.

Personally, she thought that the other woman deserved so much better than that mumbling case of 'too stupid to be bearable'; she deserved someone who accepted her past and shared her present, who loved her unconditionally without putting her on a pedestal, who saw her flaws, but didn't think she was broken. She deserved someone who _understood_.

"That's not… I didn't…," Snow stuttered, desperate to make her daughter understand what she actually wanted to say. "Of course I want her to be happy! That's why she can't be with Robin! He's not her happy ending!"

"_Excuse me?_" Regina appeared to have finally found her voice again, and was in attack mode right away. In a desperate attempt to calm the other woman down a little, Emma reached for her forearm, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

"Regina, listen. Whether you like it or not, I know you; I know you really, really well. And I know that you weren't truly happy with Robin, I could see it in your eyes! You didn't look at him like you looked at Daniel, or how you look at E-…" All of a sudden, the former queen's complete body tensed, and for a second, Emma thought the brunette would punch Snow right in the face.

"I think that is quite enough of you interfering in my affairs, Snow; and without being asked, no less," she said in her best 'Hardass Mayor Mills'-voice, giving her former step-daughter a deathly glare, before she turned towards the blonde woman standing next to her.

"Can we please leave, Emma? I am not feeling too well."

"Yeah, sure," Emma stuttered, mildly confused that Regina was beating a hasty retreat, but knew better than to question her decision (she wasn't a complete idiot, after all).

They were at the door already, when Regina turned around one last time, and, with a fake smile, gave her not-anymore-but-maybe-again arch-nemesis the final blow: "Oh, and Snow; don't bother waiting up for your daughter later. She is not going to come home tonight."

The raven haired woman's jaw dropped in an almost comical way. It seemed like she was struggling to say something, but whatever it was, Emma didn't hear the reply because Regina had already taken her hand and was all but dragging her outside.

* * *

><p>"Ookaaay, that was…" Emma let out a breath, accompanied by an awkward chuckle. She wanted to somehow lighten up the mood, ensure that this night wasn't a complete and utter train wreck. About to say something, she was more than surprised by Regina's next words.<p>

"Thank you," the brunette muttered quietly without looking at the sheriff. Her hands were fidgeting in front of her baby bump, while she intently stared at the ground beneath her feet.

"For what?"

"For standing up for me." Finally, she looked up, and Emma directly in the eyes; her own brown orbs were filled with tears.

The savior's heart almost broke at the sight. She couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been for the other woman to hear all those horrible things thrown her way, and Emma wanted to slap herself for not simply grabbing Regina and leaving when Snow had started with her outburst.

"No need to thank me. It's what you do for people you lo-…like." Emma was sure she was blushing because of her almost slip up, but Regina only grinned knowingly.

"Well, I guess it is," she finally said with a smile, after simply looking at the blonde for a while, before she linked her arms with the other woman, rested her head against the savior's shoulder, and started walking back to the mansion.


	7. Week 16

"Emma, no," Regina said firmly, putting her cutlery to the side, and reaching for a napkin to wipe her mouth.

"Oh, please, Regina, come on!" Emma was trying her best to deliver a proper Henry imitation - all puppy dog eyes and huge pout - because she knew Regina couldn't resist that look; well, on their son, at least.

They were sitting in the brunette's office - between lots of forms and paperwork - having an emergency mayor-sheriff meeting (combined with lunch, because stress always made the savior extremely hungry), after a moderately severe storm had wrecked some havoc two nights before.

Right now, however, they had moved on to a somewhat more pleasant conversation altopic: a weekend trip to an indoor water park Emma and Henry had been more or less secretly planning for a while already.

"I'll look like a beached whale when wearing a swimsuit." Self-consciously, the brunette draped the corner of her cardigan over her belly to hide the little human growing inside; the other woman just gave her an affectionate smile.

"Bullshit, Regina. You look gorgeous," Emma assured her, because it was _true_. Regina had always been positively breathtaking, and the semi-sized baby bump in combination with the infamous pregnancy glow and her slightly longer hair only added to that.

"You really think so?" Big, brown, hopeful eyes looked at Emma, and, in that moment, Regina seemed so young, the blonde wanted to cuddle her like a cute little puppy.

"Yes," the blonde affirmed once more. "Plus it'll be fun! Henry wanted to go for months already, but between Neverland, your lovely sister and the Dairy Queen, we didn't exactly have a lot of spare time."

"Okay, fine. But under one condition," Regina said, all business.

Since Emma trusted the other woman one hundred percent, she wasn't afraid of what the mayor wanted; naturally, however, she was curious what she would ask Emma to do. Slay another dragon? Make some weird potion? Move the sun? Emma gestured for Regina to just spill it already, and so the older woman continued: "You have to go to childbirth classes with me. It's in a few weeks."

Regina folded her hands onto her lap, and just looked at the blonde with an innocent smile on her face.

"No need; I can show you how to pant in a much more entertaining manner, if you know what I mean." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows, just like every time their bantering turned into something sexual. It happened quite a lot these days, but Emma would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

"Don't. Don't tickle the dragons tale," Regina said in a voice that made clear that Emma was treading on _very _thin ice right now.

"Oh my God, _seriously_? You're horny as fuck, aren't you?" Laughing, the blonde threw her head back.

"Shut up, Swan," Regina all but growled, throwing one of her pens at the woman on the other side of the desk. Brushing invisible fluff off her pants, she added: "I do have… certain desires at the moment."

The brunette looked somewhere between completely mortified and absolutely desperate. Emma thought it was hilarious to see the normally so put together woman like this.

Pregnancy had changed Regina quite a bit, but Emma wasn't complaining; she actually liked it. Being close to Regina, sharing basically everything with the other woman, had Emma feel more wanted and appreciated than ever before. She was in a good place. She was happy.

"Too bad you're not getting any," Emma said, smug smile on her lips. True, she didn't either, but she had years of experience in taking care of herself, so she was doing okay (kind of, anyway).

"Indeed it is."

"How about you ask your old 'friend' Tink; I bet she would be _delighted_ to help you out." The blonde laughed wholeheartedly about her own remark, but Regina just gave her a death glare.

The former queen had told her about her affair with the fairy a few weeks back, after they had, coincidentally, met the other woman at the supermarket, and she had given them, well, Emma especially, the stinkeye.

After that encounter, Regina had fessed up: She had met Tinkerbell after she had just become queen and was lonely and miserable. Quickly, they became friends, and the blonde woman wanted to help Regina find her happy ending (apparently a reoccurring theme in the mayor's life).

Friendship had turned into passionate kisses, which had turned into second base, which had turned into sex in one of the far off pavilions in the palace gardens. According to Regina, Tink had confessed her love for the young queen at some point, but Regina, afraid of being tortured or killed if anyone ever learned about the whole thing, had rejected her, and they hadn't seen each other until they met again on Neverland.

"_Emma!_ You promised you wouldn't talk about it ever again; the circumstances were extraordinary and I…" Regina's face was beet red, and Emma was afraid the other woman was going to throw something in her face again. She was quick to pour oil on troubled waters.

"I'm just teasing you. Though I _knew_ you banged her ever since you first mentioned her." Smug smile on her face, she popped the last fry in her mouth, and raised her eyebrows in challenge, just for good measure. _Bam, _s_avior out!_

"Oh, almighty master of perception, how will I ever be as wise as you?" Regina laughed; it was a sound Emma had come to love.

"Shut up. My gaydar is spot-on," she stated confidently, before remembering at least two hundred twenty-five instances she had been completely wrong. "Most of the time…"

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Regina only grinned, before she took the empty plastic dish her salad had been in, and threw it in the trash can under her desk.

* * *

><p>"Two adults, one child, please," Emma ordered once it was her turn, gesturing behind her at her son and his other mother.<p>

The water park was not even an hour out of Storybrooke, and the ride - Regina had even let her drive the Benz - had been filled with animated chatter, singing along to the radio, and heartfelt laughter.

Henry had been going on and on about the newest book he was reading with Belle in the afternoons when he went to the library after school every day to do his homework there and spent some time with his grandma (she hated when he called her that, though, so he only ever called her by her first name - at least to her face).

"I'll make it a family card, it's cheaper that way," the young guy behind the register said, typing away on the touch screen.

For a second, the blonde was taken aback; _family._ She looked back over her shoulder, where Regina and Henry were having an intense discussion about Wolverine.

"That works, I guess." Emma shrugged, taking the ticket, a smile on her face.

* * *

><p>A few hours, about ten thousand water slide rides, and forty pounds of sweets later, the three of them were lazily lying on some loungers by the side of the baby pool. There was another family - mom, dad, and two adorable little girls - next to them.<p>

Regina, who had refrained from going on the slides, because she didn't want to risk anything, had admitted that this was the most fun she had had in a while, and Emma had just smiled at her, mentally patting herself on the back for a job well done.

At some point (and with much roar) the family next to them got up. The two little girls were already running for the slides (and Emma could see Regina fight the urge to yell after them to be careful and not run), the dad hurrying behind, but the mom turned around after a few steps, smiling at Emma and Regina. She was still pretty young, twenty-five tops, Emma guessed, and she reminded her a little of Ashley.

"I just wanted to say: you are such a beautiful family, it makes me really happy. Are you married yet?"

Emma just gaped at her, not sure if she had actually understood correctly. "Ehm…," she began, but her brain wasn't very cooperative at the moment. Regina was the first to get her act together: "We're not…" The other woman, obviously embarrassed, didn't let her finish, tough.

"Oh my God, excuse me! I just thought… he calls you both 'mom,' and you're obviously expecting again. Sorry, I'm sorry," the young woman rambled, turning bright red. Emma found it kind of endearing, and, really, she couldn't blame the woman.

She and Regina had become awfully domestic in the past weeks, which was probably due to both, Regina's pregnancy hormones, and the fact that Emma didn't really want to be alone anymore (and Regina was _way_ better company than Hook).

They were good for each other - who would've thought - and just supported each other with getting their lives in order. That was what friends did, after all, wasn't it?

"No harm done, don't worry, dear." Regina gave her a sincere smile, and the woman relaxed a bit, before apologizing once more and following her husband and kids to the slides.

* * *

><p>Later, when Henry was in bed already and the day almost over, the two women were sitting on the couch in the lounge. The room was quite dark, with only a few lit candles randomly scattered across various tables and shelves. If it wasn't her and Regina, Emma would call the situation romantic, but - sitting here with the other mother of her son - she didn't really want to think about that too much.<p>

At the moment, she couldn't even actually define _what_ they were to each other. Something akin to best friends, mixed with their usual banter and the occasional joke below the belt. It was great, more than Emma ever thought would exist between them, but still… the blonde wouldn't be opposed to taking this the whole way.

Yes, there was the really real possibility that she maybe, _maybe_, had a teeny-tiny crush on the brunette. Okay, probably a huge one. She didn't know when it had happened, or _how_, for that matter, and she had tried hard to bury it deep down inside, to just forget about it, because it was probably the last thing Regina needed right now. _God_, she was so _so_ fucked.

"Did it ever cross your mind?" Emma almost jumped up from the couch at hearing Regina's voice, and looked at the other woman with a confused look on her face. "What?"

The brunette didn't look her in the eyes. "The idea of us… together… you know, as…"

"As a couple?" Fighting hard to keep her voice from shaking, Emma desperately tried to keep her heartbeat at a normal rate. This was not what she'd been expecting from this evening.

"Yes," Regina said quietly, and, looking down on toher lap, her face turned slightly red.

Emma had already figured that Regina had been highly uncomfortable when the woman at the water park had assumed them to be a couple earlier, and, although she didn't like to admit it, it hurt. Was it really that far fetched? Not to Emma, but, apparently, to the mayor.

For a while, no one said a word, and Emma just intently studied the other woman's face.

Of course, Emma had thought about it; actually, especially recently, she had thought about it quite a lot. Being with Regina felt so normal, so like home and family like nothing before. The other woman just _understood_, and it was so easy and comfortable and… wow, how had she not realized this any sooner?

She was falling in love with the other mother of her son.

"I… I don't… what is the right answer here? What do you want me to say? Please tell me, Regina, cause I seriously don't know." Well, she knew what she _wanted _to say, what she wanted to happen, but that was probably not the smartest move in this situation.

Regina liked her, cared about her, at least a bit, but she didn't feel the way Emma did, the blonde was one hundred percent sure about that. The brunette had different priorities right now: she needed to focus on her second child, she shouldn't have to deal with Emma's unasked-for advances.

This whole situation was set up to fail, anyway. So Emma needed to just suck it up, and pretend like she didn't want to spend her life with the other woman. _Damn_, she was in deep, deep shit.

Regina looked up then, and directly into the other woman's eyes. It took Emma's breath away how beautiful she looked.

It didn't help her breathing when Regina slowly lifted her hand to the blonde's face, gently cupping her cheek. "Emma, I…"

Regina broke off and licked her lips. Her eyes were so big and warm and full of something Emma would like to think was compassion, the sheriff could barely take it. Was this really happening right now, or had she fallen asleep on Regina's couch once more, and was now dreaming vividly?

They were still staring at each other - staring, and staring, and staring some more - when Regina slowly started to close the gap between them; a foot, eight inches, five. Holy _shit_, this was really happening!

Their faces were so unbelievably close, and Emma was already closing her eyes, when…

"Moms?"

_Fucking seriously?_

Regina basically jumped away from Emma and up from the couch, before she ran her hands through her hair, and took a deep breath; her fingers were obviously trembling. She avoided looking at Emma like the plague, and, instead, focused on their son in the doorway.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He looked pretty pale and was clenching his tummy.

"I'm feeling sick," he said quietly, pain evident in his voice. The hug his mother gave him was accepted willingly.

"You shouldn't have eaten all those sweets, I told you this would happen," Regina chastised, but her face was all concern and affection.

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled, and at least had the decency to look like he knew he fucked up. Emma didn't know how much he had seen just now - preferably nothing - but she was afraid he was gonna make some great now operation out of this; parent trap 2.0, or something.

"Let me make you some tea and a hot water bottle, that'll help," Regina said, giving her son an affectionate smile, before she went around the couch to go to the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna go, then," Emma said, face a lithic mask. This was a disaster.

"No, Emma, please wait. I…" In a flash, Regina was back in the living room again, face flushed, desperation in her eyes. She, for sure, wasn't one to beg, Emma knew, so this was pretty serious. Regina probably wanted to talk about what had almost, maybe happened, but, right now, Emma was panicking and just needed to wrap her head around the events of the night by herself.

"It's fine. See you tomorrow," the blonde said with a tight smile, before ruffling Henry's hair. "Bye, kid."

* * *

><p>Once she was sitting in her car outside, she let out a long sigh, while letting her head fall on the steering wheel.<p>

"Shit."


	8. Week 17

A/N: Trigger warning: Brief mention of suicide.

Sorry this took me a bit (and isn't the longest chapter), but I'm busy with uni stuff at the moment, and I had lots of doctor's appointments and hospital visits because I'm sick and nobody knows what it is.

Thanks for all the reviews and favs and follows, it means a lot to me!

Feel free to follow me on tumblr (mrsllamaparrilla), and send me prompts, or whatever.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

xx

* * *

><p>"Oh my God, <em>Emma<em>!"

Upon hearing the other woman's voice basically screeching from the first floor, Emma dropped the dishes she had been doing after their dinner together, and sprinted through the foyer, up the stairs, down the hall, before she burst into the brunette's bedroom.

It wasn't even weird anymore, being in Regina's personal domain. Somehow, it had just become second nature to be around the mayor, to trust her, and have the brunette trust her in return.

"What? What's wrong? What happened?" Emma's voice was almost as high-pitched as Regina's had been only seconds before, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she took in the scene that played out in front of her.

The former queen was standing in front of her floor length mirror, intently staring at her bare bump.

"I have a stretch mark," she declared dryly.

Emma just gaped at her. Not necessarily because the other woman was standing in front of her half naked—although that was an added bonus, of course—but rather because of all the possible scenarios in her head, this had definitely not made the list.

True, lately, Regina had called her for far more ridiculous reasons—to buy peppermint ice cream at 4am on a Sunday morning, to get the latest Nicholas Sparks movie (and then cuddle up while crying her eyes out), or to find organic parsnip so they could try out cooking different baby foods—but this time, Emma had been especially worried that something was wrong.

God, she was _seriously _whipped.

"Wait… that's it? That's why you're screaming through the whole house, making me think you are up her dying in a pool of your own blood?"

Up until now, the pregnancy had—especially regarding Regina's history when it came to pregnancies—gone incredibly smooth. No bleeding, no pain, not even pregnancy brain. Regina was happier and healthier than ever before, which was almost brutally obvious in the way she talked, walked, and looked.

After the initial gossip once everyone had found out about it, things had quieted down a bit again. Now, everyone—well, nearly everyone—was simply happy for the mayor.

"This is even _worse_!" Regina pouted, actually _pouted_, and let herself sink onto her huge bed with an audible huff.

"In what world is that worse, woman?" The blonde was ready to give the other woman a piece of her mind. Emergencies included either at least 5 liters of blood, a missing limb, or serious contractions, and, obviously, neither of that was the case here right now.

"I'm fat. And I'll stay fat forever after this. I look like a fat elephant," Regina mumbled, and draped one of her arms over her face, which gave Emma the suspicion that the other woman was probably on the verge of tears.

While, health-wise, everything was smooth sailing, the brunette's emotions were all over the place. She was constantly horny (though they tried to avoid that particular topic), cried over ridiculous tv commercials, and, last week, she had thrown a fit over a bottle of water Emma had forgotten in the kitchen. She was seriously out of control.

"Okay, okay, woah, _stop_! Listen to me, Regina; listen really, _really _carefully." Emma punctuated every word, reaching for the mayor's arm and pulling it away from her face. Once she had eye contact, she spoke slowly and resolutely, "_You_ are beautiful. You always have been, and you always will be."

Tears formed in Regina's eyes.

Compliments were a problem as well. Every time someone said something nice to her, she had to fight the waterworks. It was worse than ten Mary Margarets, though, most of the time, Regina at least had the decency to be extremely embarrassed about it.

"And besides, do I look fat to you? Because, as you might remember, I had a baby as well: Henry, 13 now, pretty cute, not sure if you met him yet."

"You're an idiot." Regina laughed, and Emma involuntarily smiled. It was extremely cheesy, but she liked when the other woman laughed; when she was free, and happy, and not overthinking every little detail. She looked different then, younger, more radiant.

Carefully, Emma took a seat on the bed next to the other woman. For a moment, they just remained in silence, each in her own head, before Regina turned her face to look up at Emma.

"Did you get stretch marks?"

Without even thinking twice, Emma gripped the hem of her shirt, effectively pulling it over her head, before she unceremoniously dropped it on the floor next to the bed.

"Wh—what are you doing?" If Emma was actually seeing properly, Regina had turned a traitorous shade of pink, which looked seriously adorable, and the mayor's eyes were quickly darting between Emma's face and Emma's bra-clad breasts. The blonde's heart picked up speed.

"Showing you my stretch marks," she said matter-of-factly, before sinking back onto the bed.

The two women were lying right next to each other now, not even a foot between them. God, Regina's bed was so comfortable. It was like clouds, big and fluffy and ridiculously soft. The sheets felt amazing on Emma's bare back. She could get used to this.

"Oh. Okay," Regina said, and turned onto her side, propping her head on her arm to be able to see the other woman better.

"This one was the first one I got." With her right hand, Emma pointed to a tiny stretch mark a little over her hip bone.

The day she had found out she was pregnant seemed like it was only yesterday. It was all still vivid in her memory; the complete shock, the fear, the desperation.

She hadn't wanted the human being she had been producing to end up like her. He should have a better life, a better family, not a teenager in juvie with no diploma and no opportunities.

Abortion, however, had never even been an option. Sure, she was totally pro-choice and didn't judge any woman for terminating her pregnancy, but she just hadn't been able to do it. She never could.

Every night she had prayed that her child would have it better, that he would end up with a nice family and live happily ever after. Sometimes she had been questioning the validity of her prayers. After all, she wasn't religious, and actually wasn't even sure if God existed at all. But, looking over at Regina, she thought they obviously had not been in vain.

"It was pretty early in the pregnancy, but I was still a kid myself, you know, and the juvie doctor said it was perfectly normal when young girls are having a baby. Makes sense, I guess," she said, while absentmindedly tracing the thin line with one of her fingers.

Although the time in prison definitely had not been the best period of her life, she liked to think back to her pregnancy, especially now that she actually knew her son; now that he was in her life, and she was legitimately raising him together with his other mother.

Apart from the morning sickness, hurting feet and being overly huge, being pregnant had been one of the best experiences ever. For once, she had not been alone. There was someone else there, someone who was literally a part of her, and even though that little person couldn't talk, she had felt connected to him. She had had someone to share her worries and hopes with.

Looking back, it sounded ridiculous, but Henry had given her strength. For him, she had gotten her life back under control. She had finished high school, gotten a job, tried to be a responsible adult. He had saved her. And he had saved Regina as well.

"How was it?" Regina asked, eyes glistening with wonder.

Emma had never really told her much about the pregnancy with Henry, although why exactly, she didn't know. After all, the brunette had shared all her memories of raising their son with his other mother. So telling Regina about her pregnancy really was the least Emma could do for her.

"How was what?"

"Being young, alone, in prison, and pregnant, to top it all off," the older woman said, her eyes full of understanding and empathy.

"It was hard. I wanted to keep him, I really, really wanted to, but it would have never worked out." Emma knew she didn't have to explain herself, that Regina wasn't reproaching her. She knew that Regina knew how hard it had been to give Henry up, after all, she had done the same thing at the town line before Pan's curse hit.

"I mean I know about young and pregnant; I was nineteen when I first… but I had a whole castle full of people to help me with it. I could have never done it alone. Well, it didn't work out anyway. But you already know that," Regina rambled, which was so unlike her, it was endearing.

God, sooner or later Emma would develop diabetes, she was sure of it.

Sometimes, when the young, insecure Regina was shining through, Emma wondered how that woman could ever become the Evil Queen. Of course she knew what had happened to prompt Regina to seek revenge, but now that she actually knew the brunette quite well, she often found herself wondering how these two completely different personalities fitted into one single person.

It worked, though. Somehow, Regina managed to meld the biggest contradictions in herself, which was utterly fascinating. The mayor was such a beautifully complex woman, Emma couldn't even blame herself for falling for her.

"You did do it alone, though. Yeah, you didn't carry Henry, but you raised him, and you did a hell of a job with that. Seriously. I am so glad you happened to him."

It was true. Regina was the best thing that could have possibly happened to their son, and, also, she was probably the best thing that had ever happened to Emma as well.

Finally, the blonde had found someone who understood everything she had been through, someone who helped her cope with it in a healthy way. She didn't want to desperately forget anymore, like she had tried to in the past.

There had been times when she had seriously thought about ending it all, just giving up, and taking the easy way out. But for some reason, she had never actually gone through with it. And now she was glad she didn't.

If she had, she would have never met her son. She would have never found her parents. She would have never gotten to know Regina, who—she was pretty sure—at this point, she was desperately in love with.

And although Regina didn't want the same, she was happy. Just being around the other woman, seeing her so at peace and content was enough.

Emma was used to not being someone's first choice, she had never been, so why should a breathtaking woman like Regina of all people want a former thief, former orphan like the blonde? She just wouldn't.

Being friends, helping the other woman find her happy ending, was enough for now. If Emma could just be around the other woman, she was ok.

"What about that one," Regina said quietly after a moment, while carefully tracing the stretch mark on Emma's right side with her pointer finger.

Emma could feel the softness of Regina's skin, the warmth that eradiated from her, and, just for a moment, she allowed herself to close her eyes and savor the funny feeling the other woman's touch caused in her belly.

It would be so, _so_ nice, being able to always be with Regina just like this; talking, bonding, touching. Not even necessarily touching each other in a sexual way, intimacy could also be platonic. Just connecting with another person on that level, after so may years of meaningless hook ups, one night stands, and alibi relationships, was incredible.

"I had just felt him kick for the first time ever, and the next day this appeared at the exact same spot. I like to think it was because of him kicking, though I know it's ridiculous."

Emma smiled at the memory. Apart from having your baby in your arms for the first time, there was probably nothing better than feeling it kick. It had been only then that the blonde had actually realized she was pregnant. True, the bump had been there, but knowing there was something inside you and actually feeling it move around were two completely different things.

"How does it feel, the baby kicking for the first time?"

"It's a little weird, especially early in the pregnancy; it feels like… like butterflies." Wow, this was seriously the worst description of anything Emma had ever given.

"Butterflies? That sounds beautiful," Regina said, a radiant smile on her face.

"Yeah just wait until he kicks you right in the kidneys; that's when the real fun begins." Emma laughed, but quieted immediately at the look the other woman gave her.

It was a mixture of so many different emotions, Emma didn't dare to make out individual ones, but it seemed serious. It seemed important.

Maybe she mattered to Regina as much as Regina mattered to her. Maybe Regina was feeling butterflies without having the baby kick her guts. Maybe Regina felt something for her as well.

Or maybe Emma was just making that up in her head.

"Thanks for sharing all this with me," Regina whispered, taking the blonde's hand and dragging it over her ever-growing bump, before she rolled onto side, effectively making Emma the big spoon.


	9. Week 18

It was an early Tuesday evening in mid-April, and Emma was just parking the cruiser in front of 108 Mifflin. Henry, who was out camping in the woods with David, because the weather was uncharacteristically warm at the moment, had sent her a text message earlier asking her to check on his other mother.

Ever since the brunette was pregnant, Henry was extremely worried that something might happen to the mayor; Emma thought it was really cute.

With the key Regina had given her a few weeks back, the blonde opened the big, white front door. Once inside, Emma took off her boots—Regina had successfully conditioned her to do so—and put them next to the door, before she climbed up the first few steps getting her to the main level.

She knew Regina was home, because the black Benz was parked in the driveway and the semi-high heels Emma knew for a fact the other woman had worn today were currently standing right next to Emma's own shoes.

After checking both the study and the living room, she went on to look in the kitchen, but the other woman was still nowhere to be found. So she grabbed one of the apples from the bowl on the counter, taking a bite, before she went back into the grand foyer and up the stairs to see if Regina was taking a nap in her room or—in a rather undesirable case—lying unconscious in the bathroom.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard a sound from the room at the end that made her blood run cold. Regina was in pain. Maybe she really had collapsed, and was now unable to reach her phone to call someone for help.

Emma's heartbeat was considerably faster, and panic was creeping up on her, so she basically sprinted the rest of the way, dropping the apple in the process, and burst through the door to Regina's room.

Ready to give the Heimlich, CPR, or whatever else it was the other woman needed, she stopped dead in her tracks when she actually got a look at the brunette.

In front of her on the bed, Regina was lying on her back, completely naked apart from a semi-transparent black bra, and a hand between tan thighs. _Oh._

"Oh my _God_! Shit, Regina, I'm _so_ sorry," Emma exclaimed, and Regina almost jumped from the bed, eyes wide.

As fast as she could, she tried to cover herself with the thin throw, but that did little to help erase the picture probably permanently burned into Emma's brain—a bare Regina pleasuring herself. _Holy shit_.

"I'm just gonna… go and… yeah, see ya…" Emma stuttered while turning to leave, face burning red.

"No, Emma, wait! Please…" Regina pleaded and awkwardly got up from the bed, thin throw loosely draped around her body. "Don't leave, I…" She looked down onto the floor, hands nervously fidgeting in front of her belly. One deep breath, and then she lifted her gaze.

"Will you sleep with me?"

"_What?_" This was it; Emma was completely crazy now and just hearing things that no one had ever actually said.

The blonde's brain was completely empty. Mouth repeatedly opening and closing, she just gaped at the woman in front of her, who's cheeks were slightly red.

"Sorry, that was absolutely inappropriate. Of course, you don't have to—I'm just so, _so_ horny, and… _God_, this is really out of line, just forget about it," the brunette rambled, evidently embarrassed, while she turned away from Emma to make her way into the en-suite.

"Yes."

The brunette wheeled around. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I will sleep with you," Emma said, even more determined than before.

If she was honest, she had wanted to bed the other woman ever since they had first faced each other at the door of the mansion all those years ago. While she generally wasn't one for one night stands and meaningless hook ups, fucking that smug 'I'm so much better than you, Miss Swan'-expression from the mayor's face had been serious wet dream material.

But there had been reasons not to do it. Serious, grave reasons. For starters, Emma had been sure that Regina was about ten thousand percent straight. All the suggestive looks and comments were just an act to completely drive the blonde insane and fuck with her head. Regina was a complete psychopath. Regina was her boss, kind of. Regina was the mother of her son. She was in love with Regina.

Rationally, this right here was probably a really, _really_ bad idea, but, truthfully, Emma was way past the point of caring. Regina was offering, and who was Emma to deny her release. She had vowed to give the brunette a happy ending—and this was a start.

"Oh," the former queen breathed, mouth a perfect circle. "We can turn the light off, if you want to; I'm not exactly attractive right now."

"Regina, stop. You're beautiful," Emma said, and she meant it. "You are the single most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life, and, pregnant, you're even more breathtaking."

The brunette averted her gaze, cheeks a light pink, but Emma didn't want to give up convincing the other woman just yet. "I'm serious, Regina. I wish you could see what I see."

However, the other woman just shrugged it off and climbed onto the bed, halting in the middle, still on her hand and knees. "I'm just going to stay like this, so you don't have to see me." Emma rolled her eyes at the stubborn woman.

"Didn't you hear what I literally just said? You're _so_ hot. And if we are really going to do this, I want to see you; all of you, okay?"

Regina visibly tensed and then relaxed again, until she slowly sank back onto her heels, before slipping off of the bed completely to stand in front of it. Eyes big, and brown, and beautiful, she simply looked at the blonde in front of her.

Then, Emma finally kissed the other woman.

It was unbelievable, all soft, full lips and carefully exploring tongues, and the blonde wasn't sure how she had survived without this for thirty years. This kiss felt so right, so much like home, Emma was surprised she didn't hear the angels sing.

Carefully, she laid the other woman back on the bed and climbed onto her, effectively straddling her thighs.

For a moment she just looked at the truly glorious sight in front of her—full breasts in an almost transparent dark bra, perfectly soft skin, round belly—absentmindedly tracing Regina's collarbone with her finger, before she leaned back down to kiss the other woman.

With one hand carefully caressing Regina's left breast, her mouth slowly travelled from Regina's mouth to her throat, along between her breasts, and then over her belly down to where she had touched herself minutes ago.

Because, from what Emma had seen when she had first entered the room, Regina was probably way past the point of foreplay, she shifted her position so she was in between parted legs, her head resting on the brunette's left thigh.

"God, you're beautiful," Emma breathed when she laid eyes on the other woman's middle. "Is it okay if I use my mouth?"

Unable to say anything, Regina just nodded.

Lying between the brunette's legs was a completely overwhelming experience. Emma could both smell and see Regina's arousal glistening on the small patch of dark locks. With two fingers, she carefully reached out to spread the other woman's wet folds, and had to suppress a moan at the sight.

This was really happening.

Slowly, Emma inched her face closer to Regina's middle, before her tongue first made contact with the brunette's clit. The sensation was incredible, and the sheriff had to pull herself together in order to not come right on the spot with her wildest dreams coming true and all.

Regina apparently enjoyed it as well, at least judging by the way her whole body shuddered, and she uttered several low moans that were most definitely the sexiest thing Emma had ever heard.

When Emma kept on playing with the other woman's clit—circling it with her tongue, sucking on it, carefully using her teeth—Regina's moans got significantly louder, while her whole body strained toward Emma.

The whole thing was one big haze of sounds, smells, and touches, and Emma loved every second of it.

In fact, Regina's low moans and earthy smell turned her on to a point where she couldn't take it anymore, so she sneaked her own left hand into her pants, imagining it was Regina's pleasuring her.

She almost cringed at how wet she was, but, then again, it wasn't really a surprise, because, at the moment, she was tongue-fucking the hottest woman on the planet, who also happened to make the sexiest sounds possible in bed.

"You taste so good," Emma declared when she detached from Regina's hole for a second, before latching right back on, sucking the brunette's clit in her mouth.

"Can you…" Regina started, but was interrupted by a moan coming from deep in her throat. Emma understood, though, so she pulled the fingers of her left hand out of her own pants, and instead buried one deep in Regina. The other woman shuddered in pleasure.

"Mmh, yes," she murmured, and the blonde was certain she would explode once Regina orgasmed.

"Oh, Emma…" Regina's voice was pure porn.

Still, Emma stopped for a second, because although the other woman's moans suggested she was enjoying this even more than Emma, the sheriff wanted to make sure Regina really wanted this. She looked up and caught the other woman's eyes, staring down at her questioningly.

"Is this alright?"

Normally, she was a little selfish when it came to sex. Although she wasn't really a pillow princess, her own pleasure was highly important to her, but right now, she didn't care about it at all. This was about Regina; about making Regina feel attractive, and cherished, and loved.

"Mhm… more…" the brunette moaned, while letting her head fall back onto the bed, and blindly reached out one hand, which Emma took without thinking, before she intertwined their fingers. It was a connection, a promise that this wasn't just a quick shag, proof that they actually understood each other.

So Emma added another finger and put her mouth on a swollen clit again, and Regina groaned and moaned her name.

She was louder in bed than Emma had imagined her to be in her countless daydreams, but it was really hot, so she couldn't complain—and why would she, anyway.

A few moments later, Regina came hard all over Emma's hand and mouth.

Eagerly, she licked off most of it, before climbing up the brunette's body and giving her a slow, intense kiss.

Although she herself didn't come, this was definitely her most cherished sexual experience. It beat Ruby, and Victoria, and even that hot friends with benefits chick from her freshman year in college who had first given her anal.

Emma laid back onto her back and pulled Regina into her side, affectionately brushing a lost strand of hair out of the mayor's flushed face.

"You're breathtaking, Regina," she whispered, before she gave her another soft kiss.

The big, brown eyes were back once more and stared at her in awe. So many different, antagonizing feeling were swirling inside them and Emma almost got lost, but then there were tears, and Regina was crying, and it was horrible. Emma's blood froze.

Oh God, she had done something wrong, she had ruined what she and Regina had had, she had screwed up big time.

Not sure, if it would actually make the whole situation better or even worse, she pulled the other woman into her arms completely, engulfing her in a protective hug.

Emma was slightly desperate, because this wasn't the reaction you expected after sleeping with someone for the first time. More to the point, this wasn't a reaction you ever wanted to evoke in someone.

"Hey, what's going on? Did I do something wrong; say something, please?"

The brunette didn't, however, and instead silently kept on crying against Emma's neck.

"Regina, talk to me please," the blonde tried again, while carefully stroking the other woman's hair in a desperate attempt to calm her somehow.

"You… you're so good to me. I don't deserve all this…"

Emma seriously wondered how such a smart person could believe such a stupid thing.

"Look at me. You deserve everything; _everything_. All the things you've ever dreamed of, you deserve it all."

This made Regina cry even more. _Crap_.

"And just so you know, this wasn't some kind of pity lay. I should count myself lucky to be able to have experienced this. You are so special, Regina, you mean so much to me. Never forget that." Emma punctuated her speech with another kiss to Regina's lips, before the two cuddled up again, drifting off to sleep in the safety of each other's arms.

* * *

><p>Emma woke with a start. It was pitch-black outside, and the only light was provided by the shining numbers of the alarm clock on Regina's nightstand.<p>

3.27 am.

She knew this was wrong, she knew she should fight her instincts, because Regina was worth so much more than the blonde just leaving after sleeping with her. It would send the wrong signals, she was indeed aware of this fact, and she hated herself for carefully disentangling herself from the other woman's grip, and getting up to gather her discarded clothing.

After she had quickly dressed herself, already standing in the doorframe, she looked back at the soundly sleeping brunette on the bed that seemed much too big for only a single person.

The massive lump in the pit of her stomach only grew as she stepped over the threshold into the hallway, carefully closing the door. Tears were running down the sheriff's cheeks, because she was certain this would be what finally and completely wrecked what had developed between Regina and her.


	10. Week 20

I see you all _loved_ how I ended the last chapter. You're welcome! (Sorry I'm a bit of an asshole.)

This chapter is a bit on the short side, sorry for that, but I wanted to give you _something_, and this is just the little transitioning chapter I needed to go on with the story. Thanks for the ton of reviews and follows and everything, that makes me seriously so happy.

Hope you still enjoy the story, there's a few more chapters to come.

xx

* * *

><p>It was weird, not being around Regina all the time.<p>

Emma missed their bantering, the easy domestic routine they had somehow fallen into, just having someone to share with.

Being with Regina had become so much second nature that she wasn't functioning properly without the other woman. She didn't sleep, had no appetite, and felt generally awful about how she had handled the situation.

She had made a _huge_ mistake, she had realized that about five seconds after closing the mansion's front door behind her, but she just didn't know how to fix it, although that was all she wanted.

Regina hadn't even tried to call her, but, to be fair, neither had Emma. It was just that she was so incredibly scared that she had done something she could not come back from.

It scared her shitless.

Emma had seen the other woman a few times over the last week and a half. Actually, she was actively on watch for her. It wasn't like she was stalking or anything, she just wanted to make sure Regina was okay (which, obviously, she wasn't really).

Every day, Henry had to give the blonde a precise report about how the mayor was doing—unsurprisingly not too great, actually, which, of course, was totally Emma's fault, and she knew it.

God, she was such a goddamn idiot.

There was no valid explanation for why she had run in the first place, nothing to justify her actions, only her complete and utter stupidity.

Running away from good things in her life was a nasty habit she apparently just could not manage to shake.

She knew she should be there for Regina, instead of doing whatever it was she was doing at the moment, because the brunette was alone, and pregnant, and also the woman Emma loved.

How _the hell_ could she fuck up so bad all the time?

When she had effectively ruined Regina's happy ending with her soulmate, or true love, or whatever that dimwitted forest hobo was supposed to be, by accidentally bringing Marian back from he dead, she had thought that was it, rock bottom. But, no, apparently, she could do even worse. Congratu-_fucking_-lations, idiot.

So she had basically just been hating herself these past few days, mixed with the occasional silly ray of hope.

A few times she had thought about using Henry to make Regina forgive her, but that wasn't fair. Then she had considered bribing Regina with food, but that wasn't enough by a long shot to compensate for how bad she had screwed up (again). She had even tried to write Regina a letter, because, normally, that worked better for her than talking, but she had doffed the idea after a few failed attempts.

_Dear Regina,_

_I didn't mean to run_

_Dear Regina,_

_I am sorry_

_Dear Regina,_

_I love you_

This was hopeless. Plus, why should Regina ever forgive her, anyway? Obviously, she was better off without the blonde, who just kept hurting her, albeit unintentionally.

Regina didn't need her, she never had. It was just Emma's stupid head and its wishful thinking that had brought her to the false conclusion that Regina might be as lost without her as the blonde was without the other woman.

Maybe she should try to bring Robin back to make Regina happy. Maybe she should leave town to not hurt Regina anymore. Maybe she should just call Regina and beg for her forgiveness, because she knew she couldn't possibly live with any of the other two possibilities.

Taking a deep breath, she got her personal phone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and opened her contact list (which she didn't necessarily need, because she knew Regina's number inside out).

She was intently staring down at the phone in her hands, pondering if she should finally get over herself and just call Regina, apologize, and hope she would be forgiven.

Or maybe she should just drive over to the mansion and tell the brunette in person; just tell her everything, all of it—I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I love you.

It was then—somewhere between trying to gather the courage to spill the beans, and being sure that she would take all this to her grave with her—that the phone in Emma's hand started to ring.

The caller id said "Royal Pain in My Ass," because, once upon a time, when the mayor had still been only annoying, and bossy, and utterly horrible, it had seemed extremely funny, and Emma had never actually found the time to change it. Maybe she should do that as soon as possible.

"Regina?"

The fact that the brunette was calling her, that she had caved in, seemed awfully suspicious to the blonde, because, normally, it was always her who came around, eventually. Regina was simply too stubborn, too proud, even when she knew she was wrong. She never caved, which drove Emma mad ninety-five percent of the time.

She had learned that the hard way: one time, the mayor had ignored her for a week straight because she had brought regular broccoli home from the store instead of organic one (which the brunette had never once specifically mentioned). Regina called that persistence, Emma called it irrational, and Henry just rolled his eyes and smiled at both his mothers like he knew something they didn't.

The other end of the line was still silent, and Emma already thought it was a butt dial or something, when she heard it; Regina was crying (well, rather trying to stop to cry to actually get some words out).

It scared the shit out of the sheriff.

"Emma, I—I'm bleeding," Regina finally all but whispered, and the blonde hoped she didn't hear correctly, but the woman on the other end didn't continue; all Emma could hear was her soft sniffling.

Without even answering, or ending the call, or thinking, for that matter, the blonde jumped up from her desk at the station, and ran to the car parked outside.

Breaking about every traffic rule there was (because who would arrest her, she was the fucking sheriff after all), she was at the mansion in record time.

There was an ambulance standing in the driveway, back door open, and a paramedic busy with doing something Emma had no clue about.

She parked the cruiser halfway on the street, and barely remembered to actually turn it off, before she got out and hurried up the path toward the door, which was standing wide open.

Against what Regina was still trying to teach her and Henry—"No running in the house!"—she took two steps at a time up the stairs and jogged down the hallway to the room at the end, which she hadn't set a foot in since she had had sex with Regina in there about one and a half weeks ago.

Once she entered the bedroom, she couldn't—or rather didn't want to—believe her eyes.

It looked horrible, like the scene you woke up to when your period hit out of nowhere—but in the World War II battlefield version. There was so much blood, particularly visible on the white sheets and covers, it made Emma's stomach turn.

She had done this, this had happened due to her behavior. If she hadn't just left Regina, this wouldn't have happened, Emma was sure of it. She was the reason Regina was losing the baby. _Oh God._

The blonde found the other woman in the ensuite, where another paramedic was measuring what Emma supposed was the brunette's blood pressure.

There was some more blood here as well, and, regarding the sheer amount of it Regina must have lost, Emma wondered how she was even still alive, let alone conscious (not that she was complaining).

For a moment, she just looked at the other woman from where she was leaning against the doorway. Regina looked so small, so fragile, and broken sitting on the floor, back against the side of the bathtub.

She must have somehow sensed the blonde's presence, because, out of nowhere, she looked up, and directly into the sheriff's eyes.

"Emma."

It was barely a whisper.

The blonde's heart broke.

There were visible tear tracks on the mayor's cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked so, _so _defeated and small, guilt pooled in the pit of Emma's stomach.

"Regina, I'm so, _so_ sorry, this is all my fault. I'm sorry, I don't want you to lose the baby, please. I'm really sorry, I—" the blonde rambled, unable to wrap her head around what was happening.

This couldn't be real, Regina couldn't lose the baby. This baby was their chance. True, it wasn't actually Emma's, but what did it matter? The baby had brought them together, even more so than Henry had.

"It's not your fault," Regina mumbled. She looked pale and tired, which coincided with the amount of blood currently decorating her bedroom.

"I'm sorry I ran after… you know," she hinted, because she didn't really want the paramedic, who was still in the ensuite with them (and who looked rather interested in their conversation), to know what happened in the adjacent master bedroom less than two weeks ago.

Looking from the blonde to the paramedic, Regina fake-coughed, and the guy almost jumped.

"We're going to take you to the hospital for a thorough exam, Mayor Mills. I will get the gurney," he said, before he left with another pointed look at Emma.

Without a word, the sheriff dropped onto the floor next to Regina, who turned her face to look at the other woman.

They were a mere foot apart, and Emma wondered how Regina could possibly stay this calm.

"It's my fault; I shouldn't have pushed you to it."

Emma would've laughed if the situation hadn't been that serious.

"That's bullshit. I wanted it as well, but I was the one who just left afterward."

"But you are here now," Regina said, completely exhausted, as she reached for the blonde's hand, a weak smile on her lips.

Quickly, Emma intertwined their fingers, and used her other hand to carefully stroke the mayor's cheek.

"Of course I am, where else would I be," she pointed out, before she leaned in to kiss Regina's temple, and pulled her close.


End file.
